I just checked the weather and it looks like we’ll have another wet Tuesday CSA pickup this week! We’ll be located in front of the church under the overhang… bring your umbrella for the wait in line. It’s extra challenging to keep the 6′ distancing under the overhang, so thank you in advance for your patience!

The story of the week fully belongs to CJ, our intrepid 11-year-old. In the middle of last Tuesday’s pickup, as I was in Rockland with apprentice Lydia, my cell phone rang. When I picked up CJ was on the other end and calmly asked, “The cow’s aren’t supposed to be in the front garden, are they?” I confirmed that they were absolutely not supposed to be there. She continued, “Well, Daddy is out doing campaign visits, Eli is at soccer, [apprentice] Charlie is on a hike, and I was just reading on the couch when Maple started barking at the cows in the front garden.” I started frantically calculating how long it would take for an adult to get back to the farm, when CJ suddenly shouted “I have to go! They’re coming out!” and click, the phone went dead. She had called me from the land line in the house, and didn’t pick up when I called back. I then dialed Bill and luckily he answered his phone and immediately started driving home, but before he got there, I got another call from CJ. She calmly reported, “Well, I went and got grain and between Maple and me, we got them back to the barn. I didn’t want to get stuck in the pen with them so I tossed the grain in and ran away, and then dragged a pallet over to hold up the broken gate so they couldn’t get out again. The good news is that I think they only ate a few head of celery.” I gushed my relief that all was well, and when Bill arrived a couple minutes later, he found that CJ indeed had everything under control and was simply awaiting reinforcements. She was dubbed Queen of the Farm, and though it’s always stressful to round up cows alone, it was good to know she had the confidence and enough understanding of the bovine brain to figure it all out!

We have an offer again of 100% grassfed ground beef from farmers Sara Hodges and John Wright, of Sparkplug Farm in Leeds. Their Shorthorn/Devon cows are very well-loved creatures who get moved through pasture once a day during the grazing season and spend their winters eating organic hay. If you are interested in purchasing ground beef ($70 per 10 lbs) from Sparkplug, please fill out this form. They will make a delivery to your CSA pickup in the near future! If your freezer is currently well-stocked, rest assured that we will have Hatchet Cove Farm ground beef available in late January and will send out an email to all members at that time. 

The very hard frost last night definitely did in the last of the plants that had hung on until now. Luckily we had done a final tomatillo harvest so you can have a last taste of Salsa Verde, and we still have plenty of tomatoes coming in from the greenhouses (roast the cherry tomatoes in the oven at a low temp until they look like giant puffy raisins, then cool and freeze them in zip-lock bags, if you can bear to not devour them immediately!). The bok choy is a crisp treat that was harvested from under the blanket of row cover, so it weathered the cold admirably. Enjoy, and have a great week!

Reba and the HCF crew

CSA Vegetables Week Eighteen: Kale/Chard, Bok Choy, Hakurei Turnip Greens, Celery/Parsley, Potatoes, Green/Red Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Slicing Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Beets/Broccoli/Carrots/Celeriac

Week 18 Add-ons: Cheese, Mushrooms, Oil & Vinegar, Milk, Bread (if you missed a week of the Little Jubba Snack Pack or Apples, please let me know – we seem to have leftovers of both in our walk-in!)

This week’s recipes: Celery Leaf Pesto, Sauteed Beet Greens with Chickpeas and Potatoes, Stir-Fry Chicken (or Tofu) and Bok Choy